Speaker Paul Ryan’s Trump endorsement comes with caveats
ASSOCIATED PRESS
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., talks during an interview with The Associated Press Thursday, June 2, 2016, in Janesville, Wis. Ryan endorsed Donald Trump on Thursday, ending an extraordinary public split between the GOP’s presumptive presidential nominee and the nation’s highest-ranking Republican office holder.
JANESVILLE, Wis. >> House Speaker Paul Ryan’s endorsement of Donald Trump comes with caveats.
Ryan, the nation’s highest-ranking Republican, isn’t promising to help his party’s presumptive presidential nominee on the campaign trail. He’s not publicly backing any of Trump’s policies. And even as he vows to vote for the brash billionaire, Ryan is reminding voters he doesn’t support Trump’s confrontational style.
“It is my hope the campaign improves its tone as we go forward and it’s all a campaign we can be proud of,” Ryan told The Associated Press.
The Wisconsin Republican’s endorsement may have ended a weekslong holdout that exposed deep divisions within the GOP. But his comments during an exclusive interview with the AP exposed lingering reservations, suggesting that Ryan’s shift was driven more by a deep desire to defeat leading Democrat Hillary Clinton than to support Trump.
“It’s very clear to me that Hillary is in no certain way going to be advancing our principles and policies. She’s promising another Obama term,” Ryan said Thursday. “It’s also become clear to me through my conversations that Donald Trump is somebody I know is comfortable with these principles and general policies.”
Ryan couched his endorsement around what he called an increased comfort level with Trump’s approach toward Ryan’s policy priorities, including halting overreach of the president and executive branch. Yet he offered no public support for Trump’s policy priorities in the AP interview. He also insisted he made no “deals” with the New York businessman in exchange for his endorsement.
Don't miss out on what's happening!
Stay in touch with top news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It's FREE!
“I had friends wishing I wouldn’t support him. I had friends wishing I would,” Ryan said from his congressional office just down the hill from where he lives in the small Wisconsin city where he grew up. “I really didn’t feel any pressure, other than my goal is to make sure that we’re unified so that we’re at full strength in the fall so we can win the election.”
Ryan’s announcement marked a significant step for a GOP desperately trying to come together ahead of a general election matchup against Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee.
Some GOP leaders have vowed not to support Trump, including 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who tapped Ryan as his running mate. Just a day earlier, Romney signaled support for a possible third-party candidate instead of the presumptive Republican nominee.
As the GOP’s “Never Trump” movement struggled to identify a viable alternative, many believed it was only a matter of time before Ryan fell in line. The endorsement, he said, was not the product of any deal with the billionaire developer, but a decision based on “an understanding of our mutually agreed upon principles.”
Ryan said he specifically wanted to go over Trump’s approach to executive power and judicial appointments, and his position on abortion.
“Those conversations took some time,” he said and added: “I feel much more comfortable that he’s in the same page with us. Most importantly, it is obvious that Hillary Clinton is not.”
Ryan’s announcement came as Clinton delivered a foreign policy speech excoriating Trump’s approach. Electing Trump, she said, would be “a historic mistake.”
Ryan first outlined his support for the New York billionaire in a column published in his hometown newspaper. He had shocked the political world last month by refusing to endorse Trump once the real estate mogul became the last major Republican presidential contender still in the race.
The pair spoke privately in a series of Washington meetings last month and their campaigns have maintained contact. Ryan said he made the decision to formally endorse Trump earlier in the week.
Major differences remain, however. And conservative leaders across the country continue to have deep reservations about Trump’s devotion to Republican principles and his temperament.
In particular, Ryan has embraced major changes to Medicare and Social Security as his signature issue on Capitol Hill. Most Republicans in Congress have followed Ryan’s plan to reduce the cost of the popular programs, which are contributing to the national debt.
In contrast, Trump has repeatedly promised not to touch Medicare and Social Security, echoing a position more commonly adopted by Democrats.
The two also break on immigration. Trump wants to deport more than 11 million immigrants in the country illegally in addition to imposing a temporary ban on Muslims from entering the U.S. Ryan opposes both policies.
“We obviously have a different kind of style and tone. That’s very clear,” Ryan told the AP. “Anyone who knows anything about us knows that. But what really, ultimately matters is how best can we make sure these principles and policies get enacted in 2017. And it is clear that is far more likely to happen under a Trump presidency than a Clinton presidency.”
———
Peoples contributed from Washington.
7 responses to “Speaker Paul Ryan’s Trump endorsement comes with caveats”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
So now we know how easily Paul Ryan abandons his core values. This will likely destroy his tenure as Speaker. I certainly hope it does.
Hopefully, Mr. Trump will also flip the Senate into Democratic control. That cannot happen soon enough.
If Donald Trump appeared at one of his rallies wearing a KKK robe, it would take a few days, but we could expect Paul Ryan and the rest of the Republican leaders to breathe a big sigh of relief, say “at last!” and take the final steps to fall in line behind Trump’s limitless capacity for bigotry, racism, misogyny, and ignorance. It is appropriate at this moment to echo Joseph Welch and ask Ryan, “At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”
Thought his decision and reservation to support the nominee of his party has the touch of wisdom without totally turning against his party!
Here’s how the Washington Post sees what you call a “touch of wisdom”: “As Donald Trump was building a campaign on lies, bigotry, insults, fearmongering and unreason, a few Republican leaders of apparent principle offered some resistance. Foremost among them was House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.). In March, Mr. Ryan insisted that “all of us as leaders can hold ourselves to the highest standards of integrity and decency” and that “we shouldn’t accept ugliness as the norm.”
On Thursday Mr. Ryan capitulated to ugliness. It was a sad day for the speaker, for his party and for all Americans who hoped that some Republican leaders would have the fortitude to put principle over partisanship, job security or the forlorn fantasy that Mr. Trump will advance a traditional GOP agenda.”
“Make America Great Again” The Washington Post is just another liberal rag. Can’t you find a truthful reference. Worst jobs report in six years. Great job Obama. Let’s hear him stutter as Trump talks about adding jobs.
Yes, the “worst jobs report six years” but you’re overlooking the big picture – those six year comprise 75 months of consecutive job growth that added 14.5 million private sector jobs. No Republican President has ever equaled that.
Ryan is a coward. He has placed his version of a republican party ahead of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. His choice is unforgivable. His affiliation with a man who can only be described as a total jerk is appalling. It is clear that he has no “core” values. I hope his decision leads to many republican losses in the forthcoming election. The behavior of the republicans during the Obama administration has been disgusting and their obvious hated of the president is very disturbing because of the ways they have tried to stop the government from functioning.